{"id":3667,"date":"2026-06-22T22:09:45","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T03:09:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/?p=3667"},"modified":"2026-06-22T22:09:45","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T03:09:45","slug":"hunter-bruce-james-stages-phases","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.timelypersuasion.com\/blog\/hunter-bruce-james-stages-phases\/","title":{"rendered":"Hunter Bruce James: Stages & Phases"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Album artwork, with and without song titles<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I first met Hunter James over a decade ago at Aviary in Austin\u2014a wonderfully weird wine bar \/ home decor store hybrid we both frequented most Fridays. Started talking about music when my wife\u2019s revolving collection of Hurray for the Riff Raff t-shirts signaled we had overlapping tastes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At some point I learned of his songwriting and he started texting me demos for feedback. (I say “at some point” like we don’t live in a future where it’s all automatically logged and documented. “Sugar<\/a>” joined my iTunes library on Halloween of 2015, now a red letter date in the history of dangerous folk rock appeal<\/a>.) I vividly recall excitedly telling my wife “Hunter sent a song and it’s legit good, not just our friend wrote a song good.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tunes kept coming, and “legit good” became an understatement. I have nearly a hundred Hunter James songs in my archives, many of which I\u2019ll randomly catch myself singing or quoting. (A half awesome, half embarrassing candid video my wife took of me singing along to \u201cGoodbye One More Try<\/a>\u201d while cooking surfaces in group text threads every few years. It\u2019s catchy!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The twenty tracks chosen for this collection are mostly oldies to me, but hearing them evolve over the years from rough acoustic drafts to pandemic lawn dinner entertainment to open mic night singalongs to fully realized DIY cuts has been a magical ride.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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